 |
|
Scottish Cockatiel
Association
|
|
|
|
|
|
Some Showing Information for Breeders
To start preparing your Cockatiels for Exhibition you must start training as early as possible, well in advance of the first shows.
 |
Young cockatiels are better if you can start cage training
as soon as they are feeding for themselves, the ideal training cage would
be two to three times the length of the Uk. Standard cockatiel showcage
and split into two or three cages with slide dividers, perches at same height
as showcage and also painted in the same colour which is British Standard
18 E 50 also cages fitted with wire cage fronts, not wire mesh. After two
or three weeks in the training cage divide the training cage into individual
cages by use of the slides and put one or two birds in each cage to see
which will be suitable for exhibiting. |
Once you have made your choice check the feathering to make sure there are no broken tail feathers and remove carefully any that are damaged, giving them plenty of time to regrow before the show. You will probably find that sometimes you can put a Cockatiel into a show cage for the first time and it shall perch straight away,sitting there in all its glory saying look at me, that is the one to exhibit others walk about the bottom of the cage and will not perch, in this instance you can try covering the bottom of the cage with ping pong balls, marbles or part of an egg tray or egg cartons to try and get them to sit on the perch also a spray with some warm water encourages them to perch whilst helping to tighten their feathers.
Whilst training your cockatiels in the cage get them used to as many different
types of judging sticks as possible as one of them may be similar to the
one the judge will use at the show, also get your show team used to the
type of transport you will use for going to the show thus relieving the
stress caused by transporting and steady them down. Keep giving them a light
spray with water up until three days before the Show, I find rainwater that
is not contaminated the best for this purpose.
One good tip to remember is enter your birds preferably the night before the Show as to give the birds plenty of time to settle before judging commences the next morning
| There are many ways to train birds for the show bench and every exhibitor
has their own way of doing things, but if you get an exhibit as close as
you can to the Standards of Excellence and follow the instructions above
and you might find your exhibit taking Best in Class, Section or even Best
Cockatiel. |
 |
But however the show turns out don’t be discouraged that your exhibit did not win because the next time that tail or flight feather that was not the proper length will be just right for the next show and it may win. The more time that you can spend training your exhibits the better the results you can expect.
The Secretary.
|
|
|
|
|
